The Last Guardian

I have a few thoughts on the game that I believe a blog would do better to detail than a bulletin.

First off, I think you should play it. End of...

First off the game is painfully beautiful, Fumito Ueda and his team have crafted an intricate world to explore. The character design is all around interesting and fits the world they inhabit. The soulless suits of armour that act as the game's main enemy type. They are soulless suits of armour who are able to project a sort of spell towards "The Boy" to disorient him and eventually render him immobile. If the suits pick you up and carry you to one of their door ways then the boy presumably is fed in some way to the complex, and a restart from check point is automatically started.

Now there are ways of fighting back but they are not terribly effective and Trico's massive size and power is often a far more effective that trying to take them on yourself. Especially with their symbol projectile that slows and disorients you and a grab that stuns you straight away. 

If you are picked up you can rapidly spam the face buttons and D-pad to remove the symbols that litter the screen to break free from their grasp (very) temporarily stunning them allowing for an escape.

Trico himself is controlled via an A.I. which you use commands to get him to manoeuvre around the complex's locations and puzzles. As the game begins he is incredibly difficult to control which can lead to some difficulty in progressing. But over time your familiarity with the control scheme improving, coupled with Trico's increased trust with the boy makes traversal of the world a lot easier and more fluid.

Like with many Fumito Ueda games the story in this game is quite sparsely told with only a small number of voice overs and even fewer cut scenes. But what story is told is one that needs to be experienced, and will certainly leave an impression, it suffers greatly simply being told.

When the end of the game arrived I certainly felt it. It was very well paced and subtle signifiers along the way before the white tower finale showed the progression well all while retaining consistency in the art- style. Blending the fantastical castle structures with the luscious greenery, and even some of the more outlandish elements that come into play later on.

If I say too much more I'd be heading into deep spoiler talk and I try not to do that with any reviews so I'll leave it at simply; Play this game, and fall in love with the fantastic creature that is Trico. I look forward to seeing what Ueda and his team are currently working on.